The invention concerns a sealed docking device between two essentially environmentally isolated receptacles, whereby each receptacle is at least in areas substantially flexible, in particular sack-shaped, and can be sealed or is sealed with a coupling element in order that it can be sealed or shut tight and opened when the coupling elements are tightly connected with one another. Furthermore, the invention concerns the coupling elements as well as a method for essentially environmentally-isolated filling and emptying of receptacles.
In many areas of industry (such as, for example, the food processing, chemical or pharmaceutical industries, products (as in the form of bulk material or fluids) are decanted from a mainly stationary first receptacle into a transportable second receptacle, or vice versa, whereby the industry in many cases is anxious to prevent a contamination of the products and/or the environment by the products. Since many products are very toxic to the human organism, even in extremely small quantities, or other products react very sensitively to the effect of air, industry effective coupling elements or docking devices have been developed that enable a filling or emptying of a receptacle in an isolated or at least dust-free state. For this, in the industry receptacles are conventionally filled via a double-flap technique that, although it proves to be very efficient, is also very cost-intensive due to the technical design as well as the materials used.
For example, known from DE 695 04 581 T2 is a sealed docking device according to the type between two environmentally-isolated receptacles that comprise a rigid, annular flange with a door. The flange as well as the door are preferably produced from a hard plastic material. The receptacles, which can be designed in the form of sacks, are preferably comprised of a soft plastic material. Plastic is suggested in order to keep the material costs low, since the sacks are specified for the one-time use. What is disadvantageous with this docking device is the (by design) very elaborate fabrication of the flange with its lifter mechanism serving for lifting, which unreasonably increases the production costs for a disposable object and is additionally user-unfriendly since it is unwieldy.